"I saw the most beautiful thing yesterday," she said placing her
book in her lap. "Oh?" he replied. "Yes," she said. He turned his
gaze from the copy of the Wall-Street Journal to look across the
patio table at her. "What was it?" he asked taking a sip from his
gourmet coffee. "Well I was driving through the neighborhood near
the mall, you know, to take the shortcut, and I saw a little boy,
possibly no more than eight come out of his house and help his
mother take in the groceries. And I thought to myself, wouldn't
that have been lovely?" The man took another sip of his premium
coffee. Folded his paper in half two times and placed it on the
table next to his cup. "I reserved the tickets for Australia last
night," he said. The woman turned her head slowly away from the
man and stared across the street. A family reunion was taking
place. Two men, presumably brothers, were playing football with
their children. The children laughed as they were tackled and
thrown into a large pile of leaves, while their mothers fussed
about getting their "good" clothes dirty before the family
picture. "I don't think I will be going after all," she replied.
She kept her gaze across the street resting her petite face in
the palm of her smooth and slender hand. She squinted below her
designer hat that she had worn while working in her garden
earlier that morning. "I thought that was your dream? You always
said you wanted to go to Australia," said the man in a calm soft
voice. "That's the problem isn't it? When did it become you,
yours, and I instead us and ours? When was "we" no longer we?
When did all of it happen?" she asked turning towards him with
blurry and tired blue eyes. She was seeking answers that he
simply didn't have. "We haven't seen each other in months. I
just… I just didn't know what to do. You wouldn't even talk to me
after it happened." "We," she laughed. "You can say "we" for her,
but yet when it comes to me or us it is impossible. I suppose I
am equal to blame, I haven't used it in a long time either." "We
can start again Laura," he said with a small swallow. She stared
back across the street at the family who was now lining up for a
family picture. Mothers desperately trying to put down the awful
cow licks that had now taken up permanent residence in their
children's hair. A man approached the patio. "Hey Nick, would you
mind taking a picture for us?" the man asked sincerely. "No
problem Mike, no problem at all!" Nick replied. "Your family
looks wonderful," Laura replied, "Are you enjoying having
everyone in town?" "Absolutely, you can't beat a good family
reunion I suppose." "No, I suppose you can't," she said back. She
marveled at the way her and Nick were able to change their tones
and appearances so drastically and with ease. Is this what they
had become? 'We're nothing more than doppelgangers now' she
thought to herself. She watched Nick cross the street. She
watched him make a stupid joke to get the children to smile and
laugh. He took several pictures and let Mike inspect them before
respectfully declining his invitation to dinner later. "No, we
wouldn't want to intrude," he would say. 'Maybe I want to intrude
this once,' Laura once again thought to herself. She saw Nick
shake Mike's hand and begin to cross the street. She placed the
book back onto the table, and walked into the house to the rack
of wine in the living room. She took the two hundred and fifty
dollar bottle of wine off the top rack that they were saving for
a special occasion. She struggled with the corkscrew. "Let me
help you with that," Nick said as he entered the room and took
one of her hands. She began to cry. No longer in control, she
dropped the bottle to the ground, which somehow did not shatter
on the brick in front of the fireplace. She fell face first into
his right shoulder and he caught her allowing himself to slowly
lower them onto the floor next to the fireplace. For the first
time in years, Nick allowed himself to let go as he clutched in
child-like desperation to what was left of a once wonderful time.
Hours later, the crying stifled. They sat staring across at the
couch where an old orange Tabby cat, a leftover from the early
years, laid on the couch staring at them. The smallest of smiles
pierced the lips of Laura. "If it makes you happy, I'll leave,"
Nick finally said. Laura contemplated this as she stared at Fred
the cat. 'I can't believe I let him name him Fred' she thought.
"No, you can't leave," she said softly with a small swallow. "I…
I'm sorry Nick, I'm so sorry." "What are you talking about?" he
asked. "I'm the only one who has done anything wrong. It wasn't
your fault Laura. Nothing was your fault. Nothing you did could
have prevented it. You have to stop, stop this," he said turning
his head so his brown eyes could look directly into her blue
ones. "I know, but I pushed you to what you did. I barely spoke
for six months Nick. Six months… Six, long, awful months," she
said choking back a second round of tears. He began to say
something but she interrupted him, "Now you stop. Let's just say
it's our fault and be done with it. Please Nick, this once let it
just be ours." Nick didn't say anything. He looked at the still
unopened bottle of wine. They could still save it for that
special occasion. 'But what exactly was a special occasion?' he
thought. He picked up the bottle, used the corkscrew, and opened
it. "Would you like a drink?" he asked her. She nodded with a
small smile and the cat began to purr.